Dump body for trucks



NOV. 5, 1929. G, R HAGGARD 1,734,725

DUMP BODY FOR TRUCKS Filed June 11. 1927 i lum n 1 UN Wm @WMA iwf

Patented Nov. 1929 GEORGE n. HAGGARD, oF DENVER, COLORADO' DUMP BODY non TRUCKS Application led June 11, 1927. Serial No. 1981196. i

This invention relates to improvements in dump bodies for trucks. y

Y It is customary to transport sand, gravel, grain and many other articles in trucks and 5 in order to facilitate the unloading, various rearwardly until it assumes such an angle that the material will slide out. It is the obn ject of this invention to produce an improved dump body that shallbe provided with means whereby the contents can easily be unloaded and which will permit the load to be scattered uniformly over a road bed, as, for example. when gravel is transported to a place where it is to be used in a road bed.

Other objects of this invention are to provide a dump body which shall be of simple construction, which shall be strong and which can be readily manipulated.

The above and other objects which may become apparent as the description proceeds are obtained by means of a construction and an arrangement of parts which I will now describe in detail and reference for this pur pose will now be had to the accompanying drawing in which the preferred construction has been illustrated and in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved dump body, a portion ofthe truck being indicated by dot and dash lines. Y

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1, and shows the parts to a somewhat enlarged scale with the bottom in closed position.

Fig. 3 is a section similar to that shown in Fig. 2, but shows the parts in the position that they occupy when the load is dumped and Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 44, Fig. 2.

My improved dump body may be made of steel or wood and has two side members 1 and 2, and end members 3 and fl. This box or body member may be constructed in any approved manner as my invention relates solely to the manner of constructing the bottom of the box. In order to secure increased strength, I provide a strong steel bar 5 which runs longitudinally of the box and parallel with the side members 1 and 2. This divides the bottom into two rectangular sections. The bottom is formed by means of a plurality of boards 6, vwhich are preferably about seven inches in width and which extend from one. side` of the box tothe adjacent side of the bar 5. A sufficient number of these boards Vare provided .to entirely close the bottom when they are arranged side by side.` Brack-V ets 7 are secured to the ends lof the board v which lie adjacent to the sides and these brackets are provided with an -opening for the reception of a bolt 8 which passes through the lower edge of the side and serves as a pivot. Secured to the other ends of the boards 6 are brackets 9 which are each provided with a downwardly extending4 side 10: which is provided with an opening yfor the reception of a bolt 11. that passes through the rectangular bar 5 and serves as a pivot. Sides 10 extend downwardly a short distance below the lower edge of the bar 5 and are provided with openings for the reception of pivot bolts 12. A. rod 13 klies between' the lower ends of the sides 10 and has openings through which the bolts 12 pass. It will be observed from Fig.V 2 that when the bottom is in closed position, the bolts 12 are locatedA on a line, makingk an` angle of 45 with the vertical, and when the parts are in this position the upper edge of the bar 13 may be pracy.

tically in contact with the lower edge of bar 5. I want to call attention at, this point toj the fact that bolts 11 are located to one side of the center of the boards 6 so that when the parts are in theposition shown in Fig. V2 the distance fromthe center ofb'olts 11 to the top of the boards 6v is susbstantially the same as the distance from this vertical line to the adjacent edge of the board. 'I his distance has been'indicated by letter a. In the constructionA illustrated, the distance a is about one third of the width of the boards. VBar 13 is provided intermediate its ends with a downwardly extending lug 14 to which one end of the connecting rod 15 is pivotly secured by means of a pin 16. Secured to the chassis frame,.which has beendesignated by'numeral 17,1 is a lever 18. This lever is pivoted at 19.. The lower end of the lever extends a short distance below the pivot and nected to the lever.

" present an eveny upper surface.

vthe chassis frame and is provided with a plurality of notched teeth 25, which co-operate with the pawl 22 to hold the lever in adjusted position. It will be observed from Fig. 2 that whenever lever 18 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot 19, it will cause the brackets 7 and 9, to which the boards 6 are secured, to rotate in a counterv clockwise direction and to bring the boards 6 intoV a. horizontal plane. When the parts are as shown in Fig. 2 and the pawl 22 is in engagement with one of the notches 25, the bottom ofthe box will be entirely closed and will desired to dump the contents of the box, the pawl is disengaged from the notches of the quadrant 24 and rotated clockwise about its'pivot 19. This permits the brackets 9 with their attached boards to move into the position shown in Fig. 8, in which position there will be open spaces between the adjacent boards and through these the'contents of the box will be discharged. From Fig. 4 it will be observed that the rod 13 is located between the corresponding brackets 9 that control the boards 6 on each side of the center so that both sections are dumped simultaneously.

I have not illustrated the chassis of the truck for the reason that this body ymay be applied to any make of truck and secured in ,place by any suitable means. It is evident,

owever, that when the contents of the box is dumped part of it will drop on to the chassis rame but as the chassis frame is open, this will not interfere in the least with unloading of such material as is intended to be handled by means'of this device.

From the above description it will be apparent that my dump mechanism comprises a bottom which consists of a plurality of boards which are vso mounted that they can be moved about pivots from a position in which they 'all lie in the same horizontal plane to a position in which they lie in substantial parallel inclined planes. In fact, it is possible to rotate the boards 6 to a greater extent than shown in Fig. 3 so that they may actually assume a vertical position when the dumping takes place. If they are moved to extreme open position, the contents will be 'dumped almost instantly, whereas by governing the angle of inclination it is possible to regulate the rate at which the contents is dumped so as to securea proper dist-ribu- When it is tion of the contents on a surface. This is oi great importance where gravel is to be applied to road beds as the driver of the truck can simply open the bottom of Vhis box to such an extent that when the truck travels the chassis frame so as to hold it rigidly inV pla-ce. This prevents rattling and undue noises when the truck is travelling empty. The mechanism for controlling the dumping of the contents of the body is very simple and involves merely the handle 18 and connecting rod 15 in addition to the brackets 7 and 9. I have shown the parts in such position that'when the body is open for dumping, as

isvshown in Fig. 3, the board-s 6 would'deeline downwardly and forwardly. It is possible, however, to reverse this arrangement and to so arrange the parts that the boards 6 will slant downwardly and rearwardly. This requires that the rod 15 shall be under comression instead of tension which requires a stronger rod but otherwise the parts can be employed in the manner shown. Y

Having described my invention what I claim as new is A dump body having two parallel side members spaced from each other and a dump bottom located between the sides and above the lower edge 'of the latter, the bottom consisting of a plurality of boards extending transversely from the inside of one side to the inside of the other side and normally lying in a common place, so as to form a bottom closure, a bracket secured to the end of each board adj acent'the inner surfaces of the sides, said brackets each having a downwardly extending portion, each bracket being provided withan opening for the reception oit a pivot pin, said opening being located between one edge of the board and its center, a rod pivotally connected with the lower end -zio ` ino of each of the brackets, saidrody lying be- I low the pivot, and means for moving the rod in the direction of its length whereby the boards will be simultaneously rocked.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GEORGE R. HAGGARD. 

